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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters choose reusable chopsticks when we devour our sticky buns, in our lifetimes we'll save more than 10,200 trees.
COCKTAIL FACT
Chinese emperors preferred silver chopsticks, since they believed (incorrectly) that the silver would turn black if the food was poisoned.
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home › tip library › Reusable Wood and Metal Chopsticks
Is it too late to celebrate the New Year?
The Bite
Nope. Get out the chopsticks - Chinese New Year's coming up. But note: just like ice cream spoons, chopsticks are little utensils that make a big mess, so choose reusable next time you pay General Tso a visit.The Benefits
- Save trees. In China alone, 25 million trees are made into chopsticks each year.
- Nice reusable chopsticks add a touch of class to your Chinese New Year spread.
- Fewer splinters with the reusable kind.
- Avoid the strange, lopsided way your wood-based sticks always break apart.
Personally Speaking
Evidence that America truly is a global nation - and a testament to Kung Pao's deliciousness - all of The Bite's team members are chopstick proficient (even the one who grew up in a mountain town of 6,000-ish people. Free "Biter?" tee to the first person to guess both who and what town and put their answer in the blog comments).Wanna Try?
- bambu snapstix - made from organic bamboo with a built-in rest ($2).
- Kwytza Kraft - surprisingly stylish bags, bowls, jewelry and lampshades made from recycled chopsticks ($16-$54).
Not eco-engineered, but totally reusable:
- Portable Eco Chopsticks - metal, with a convenient carry case ($14).
- Layered Laquer Chopsticks - Japanese-style, in pretty lacquered wood ($3).
- Cheater Chopsticks - just for newbies ($3).
Feb 08,2007
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Things I Remember
- My first tricycle. Apparently I was 3 when I got it, but I remember riding it - brand new with a bow on it - around the linoleum on the kitchen floor.
- Being sick while still in a crib.
- First kiss/handholds/etc. Of course.
- The birthday of every ex-boyfriend I've ever had. Middle names, too - in fact, these items take up space in my brain that I'd really like to have back - I need that room for more important data, please (don't you sometimes wish you could "clear the cache" on your harddrive that way?).
- How I made a good Thanksgiving cornucopia during art in kindergarten and the teacher showed the whole class.
- The first time I ate sushi, in college, and thought I'd throw up, but choked it down so I could seem cool (with my near constant sushi fetish these days, this memory always makes me laugh).
- Every word in the entire freakin' poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Longfellow, which I memorized JUST FOR FUN (???) one summer as a kid.
But for whatever reason, I have NO idea when/where/or how I learned to use chopsticks.
-Heather... off to contemplate more grand forgotten mysteries of life, like remembering when I learned to whistle...
Biter Comments...
I've been getting the Bite for about a year now. Knew one/both of you were from Montana but didn't know where. Then I just happened to see the blog. Our home is Livingston! I teach biology in an intl high school in Caracas (with an emphasis on climate change). My husband is an intl development consultant. But we have a house in Livingston and a cabin off of Swingley Rd under Livingston Peak (powered with solar panels). Thanks for all the work you do with the Bite -many I forward on to various family and friends. Cheers!
Hmmm, Sara?
Yes, we are a nation of chopstick chops! I grew up in a very small, Southern, conservative mountain town. Yet, I distinctly remember my father coming back from a trip oversees and teaching me how to use chopsticks to eat hotdog slices! Its was 1982 and I was in second grade. I remember bragging about that new skill in school and a teacher saying, "you don't need to learn that, everyone eats with forks!". Last time I was home in this little town? Yep, they were celebrating their (latest!) favorite sushi place! Like typing, its a general skill I'm glad to have and can't imagine living without!
Heather.. from Bigfork, MT
Heather- Bigfork, Montana
I also learned to use chopsticks at an early age. I had a third grade teacher named "Mrs. Chan". She was married to a man from China and she felt it necessary to teach her class how to use chopsticks. She almost held me back for not knowing my times tables even though my fourth grade teacher said I knew them just fine. I guess maybe I didn't impress her enough with my chopstick skills.
It's Jackson Wyoming, right!
She's from San Francisco, CA., right?
It's Heather and she grew up in Libby, MT!!!
Hi Heather! Christy Konzen-Krantz
It's Jen from Montana! I love your website! I visit it everyday, and I'm recieving your newsletter too! Can't get enough! So keep up the great work.
My guess is Woody! (second guess: Sara). :)
I guess it's Heather, Libby, MT
For other cool chopstick ideas, there are a variety of collapsible chopsticks for the gear fanatic:
A collapsible "pool cue" style:
http://www.snowpeak.com/gears/sct003.htm
or a telescoping version from MontBell:
http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/MTB185
Both styles would fit neatly into a purse or backpack!!
I have carried my own chopsticks (full size, wooden, in a case, in my purse) for at least 15 years. When asked why (which was anytime I would pull them out!), I would say it was my little contribution to saving trees in the world. I'm so glad that people and countries are now realizing how wasteful it has been. Thanks so much for this tip. I hope everyone jumps on board. (I wish I would have followed through with my idea to make telescoping ones ten years ago. Darn!)
The odds are leaning toward Heather from Bigfork, MT. But it could also be Jenn, or maybe Woody, or maybe Sara, or still possibly Toshio. Curious to know who the small towner is though. I grew up in a small town of 300. Thanks for your site!
jen from bozeman mt?
Hi Biter Team! I didn't know where to leave this comment so I'm putting it here. Sorry if it's wrong and throws off you whole groove. I LOVE you ideal bites that i get in my email! THe most recent one was on reusable chopsticks. LOVED IT AND TOTALLY AGREE! The only thing is...the new year is called "Lunar" New Year, NOT "Chinese". There are many other ethnicities that celebrate this holiday and I just wanted to let you folks know. It's sort of un-PC to the rest of us "other" ethnicities. No biggie, just thought you should know since you must have a gigantic readership, many of whom might have noticed. Anyhoo, keep up the excellent work!!
Popster - we stand corrected on the lunar new year, so thanks for the posting! Although, I gotta say the chopstick tie-in becomes slightly more complicated if we word it that way... ;)
Everyone else - great guesses, and welcome, if this is your first time blogging...
The winner is... (perhaps I should say "The Oscar-I-Mean-T-Shirt Goes to..." instead) Christy Konzen-Krantz.
Yours truly grew up in Libby, MT, even though it's Jen who lives in Bozeman now.
But I do love Bigfork, so love the guesses...
Happy Biting, all!
I use the chopsticks that are leftover at work for stirring my coffee/tea,etc. Also use them for small stakes in plantings that need a little support, for stirring my homemade salt scrub, etc.
Otherwise they would be thrown out!
Thanks for the suggestion
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There are many other ethnicities that celebrate this holiday and I just wanted to let you folks know. It’s sort of un-PC to the rest of us “other” ethnicities. No biggie, just thought you should know since you must have a gigantic readership, many of whom might have noticed. Glad I stumbled into this article! Finally, got what I was looking for... Thanks for sharing this :)
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